‘Case over wedding invite with Modi message reckless’

‘Case over wedding invite with Modi message reckless’ 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 27.12.2024

Bengaluru : The high court quashed proceedings against two persons accused of printing on a wedding invitation card a message calling upon people to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. “The crime is recklessly registered, so is the chargesheet, based upon a reckless investigation,” Justice M Nagaprasanna observed in his recent order. 

Bridegroom Shivaprasad, a resident of Alanthaya village in Dakshina Kannada district, got the message, “Voting for Modi is the gift for my wedding,” printed on his wedding invite, and the cards were printed at the printing press owned by A Balakrishna of Golithottu village. Both Shivaprasad and Balakrishna were booked on April 25 under Section 188 (disobedience to public servant's order) of Indian Penal Code and section 127A of Representation of People Act (RPA). The wedding was on March 27 and the complaint registered on April 19. 

‘Influenced voters’ 

During the hearing, the govt advocate submitted that the petitioners influenced the electorate to vote for a particular party. Challenging the proceedings, Shivaprasad and Balakrishna argued that the invitation card was printed on March 1, much before the Election Commission announced the poll schedule on March 16. After perusing the materials on record, Justice Nagaprasanna noted that section 127 of RPA deals with restrictions on the printing of pamphlets and posters, among others, and any offence under it emerges only during an election with respect to pamphlets or posters used during such elections. Printed before notification Noting that the invitation card was printed before issuance of the calendar of events, the judge said: “How a wedding invitation card was projected to become an election pamphlet by the complainant, or even the police who conducted the investigation to file a chargesheet, is not understandable.”

 

“...It is preposterous, to say the least, as to how the crime itself could be registered, and upon that, police can investigate and file the chargesheet,” the judge further pointed out. Justice Nagaprasanna pointed out that flying squads for observation come into existence once the calendar of events for an election is notified. “If an event had already happened long before the notification of the calendar of events, the flying squad finding the invitation later could not have resorted to the registration of a crime,” he added.